Crataerina pallida

[Pipa]

does anyone know how these ugly things get inside my house, they are swift specific parasites aren't they ? my roof is boarded so the swifts cant get into the loft from outside, so how does this fly get inside, when they cant fly either i hate them they're horrible things, and i really dont like finding them crawling on my walls

[triops]

Is your roof recently boarded? C. pallida pupates in the nest area and hatches about now after overwintering in the nest, so maybe they have been in your roof since last year and are waiting for the swifts to return. I'm pretty sure they don't come off the swifts, at least not often.
I don't suppose there is any chance of you leaving the swifts to nest in your roof? One of the problems leading to a dramatic drop in numbers of swifts is the lack of suitable nest sites.

[Pipa]

Originally Posted by triops

Is your roof recently boarded? C. pallida pupates in the nest area and hatches about now after overwintering in the nest, so maybe they have been in your roof since last year and are waiting for the swifts to return. I'm pretty sure they don't come off the swifts, at least not often.
I don't suppose there is any chance of you leaving the swifts to nest in your roof? One of the problems leading to a dramatic drop in numbers of swifts is the lack of suitable nest sites.

it's been boarded up for years and years, almsot 10 year now i guess, maybe longer the reason we got it boarded was because starlings were nesting in our loft above our bathroom.. in our bathroom we have wood boxing which hide the pipes from the bathroom ceiling to the floor.. every year we had starling babies keep falling down behind the wood boxing and we had to keep ripping it off and getting the babys out and replacing it,

the only time i ever get these things in the house is when the swifts return *shudders* they're creppy things i can tolerate insects, spiders,crane flys everytihng.. just these things are creepy

i wonder if there is a gap that the swifts are getting in or something.. hmm.. not sure, i cant see any gaps from the outside, i just worry these louse flys might crawl on my cat or dog